


Restless

by yansurnummu



Series: Desperado [3]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gay space cowboys, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 22:35:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19935619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yansurnummu/pseuds/yansurnummu
Summary: Everyone changes, for better or worse.





	Restless

Corvus startles when he shuts the door and flicks the lights on, and finds a shape curled up on his couch. He stands there for a moment, shocked, staring at the sleeping figure.

When the shock subsides, he breathes in deeply, discarding his jacket before heading to his bedroom to retrieve a blanket. He shakes his head at the open window when he returns to the living room. Couldn't the man just use the door for once?

Later, Corvus'll chew him out for having his boots on his couch, but he can't bring himself to wake him just yet. He pauses, unfolding the blanket, glancing down at his sleeping form. It's been a good long while since he's seen Nate, and even longer since he's shown up like this. 

Corvus can't complain. It's no secret he adores the outlaw, going so far as to tear down any posters of his face he comes across. They didn't do his handsome face justice, anyways, he thinks.

He doesn't quite get how he goes from placing the blanket over the man's shoulders to having a bruising grip on his wrist and a threatening hand around his throat, but when he blinks, intense brown eyes are glaring up at him.

"Hey, hey now! It's just me!" he chokes out, bracing himself with one hand on the back of the couch so as not to fall on top of the man. Nate releases him just as quickly, and his breath comes out shaky as he exhales.

"Sorry," he says quietly. Corvus watches his eyes close, relaxing back into the couch. His gaze flicks over Nate's features - still like he remembers, but maybe a little more weathered, tired. He cut his hair, Corvus notes, a little mournful for the dark, wild mane he once had, but also itching to ruffle the new short mess of salt-and-pepper.

Nate's eyes open once more, and Corvus finally realizes how  _ close _ he is to the outlaw, leaning over him as he lays on his back. He's about to scramble away when Nate speaks, his voice a familiar smoky drawl. "Gon' come down here, or what?"

Corvus inhales sharply before he does, eager to get a taste of those soft lips again. The corner of Nate's mouth twitches into something like a smirk as he leans down, pressing their lips together. He moves his hand to the arm of the couch above Nate's head, eyes fluttering shut when the man's tongue swipes across his lower lip. He lets him in, a small sound escaping him as Nate leans upwards, licking into his mouth and deepening the kiss.

They part after a moment, breathing into each other's space. Nate's hand cups his face, thumb brushing softly along his jaw before he leans up again. The softness of it concerns Corvus. He can't remember a time Nate was so tender; with him, or anyone. It's only a gentle press of lips, and Corvus doesn't even realize how the man's hands shake until there's fingers combing through his hair.

"Nate?" Nate's eyes stay screwed shut after Corvus pulls back to look at him. Those hands fall to the sides of Corvus' neck. He looks as if he's in pain, the way his lip quivers and his brow furrows, but Corvus didn't  _ hurt _ him, did he?

Realization hits him when Nate's eyes open. Tears well behind dark eyelashes, and he parts his lips as if to speak, but no words come.

Nate curses under his breath, tilting his head back as if to stop the tears from falling. Corvus doesn't know what to do. He's never seen Nate upset before. Never seen him  _ cry. _

So he does what he'd do with anyone else; curls his arms under Nate's back and lets gravity pull them close, his nose buried in the crook of the man's neck. He breathes in the smell of smoke and gasoline that perpetually lingers on his clothes, a smell that he's come to find comfort in.

He hears Nate choke out a sob, his arms wrapping around Corvus' waist.

* * *

When he's calmed down, Corvus gets the fireplace going, fixes him a whiskey. Nate looks exhausted, now that he gets a good look at him; dark lines around his eyes worse than ever, now red and bloodshot.

"Now, you don't gotta talk if you don't wanna, but… I'm here. If you want," Corvus says eventually. Nate looks at him, his expression distant.

"You're a good man, Corvus," he mutters, his voice rough, "better than I deserve, that's for damn sure."

"Oh, don't go sayin' that," Corvus shakes his head. Nate looks as if he might argue, but doesn't, fixing his eyes on the fireplace instead.

He sips his whiskey in silence for a while. Corvus can't help watching him.

"Funny how I always thought I'd go out with a bang," Nate says eventually, almost startling Corvus. "Comes with the territory, right?" he fixes Corvus with a serious look. "Ain't no growin' old, livin' like we do."

"You ain't - well,"  _ you ain't old, _ he almost says, then remembers the grey in Nate's hair. The gunslinger laughs at that. "I mean, you're a handsome devil, don't think that'll ever change," Corvus chews his lip when Nate sighs, setting down his glass.

"I saw somebody today," he says quietly, distantly. "Somebody I ain't seen in damn near two hundred years." He swallows, then shakes his head, turning to Corvus on the couch. "Somebody I did wrong by."

Corvus doesn't say anything; just watches him, sympathetic. "All the things I expected I'd get from 'im, forgiveness weren't one o' them."

"S'pose you just got one o' them faces," Corvus gives him a smile, earning a small bark of laughter. 

But Nate's eyes are still full of a kind of sadness, like he can't quite believe the words. "Listen, Nate…" Corvus sighs, "I ain't stupid enough to tell you whatever you did can't've been that bad. But you ain't a bad man or nothin'."

"Mm," Nate purses his lips like he might argue otherwise, averting his gaze from Corvus.

"I'll say this: if I've learnt anythin' from hangin' around you, it's that the reward is well worth the risk," Corvus speaks softly, studying the man beside him.

The fire paints a harsh glow over his face, deepening every crease and scar. He looks beautiful, Corvus thinks, as Nate slowly reaches out and puts a hand over his own, between them on the couch. Corvus laces their fingers together, running his thumb over scarred, wiry fingers. There's a certain kind of relief that comes with the contact.

"Ain't much night left, but… would you stay?" he asks, catching Nate's attention once more, grinning when he's given a smirk.

"Yeah, what the hell."

**Author's Note:**

> Corvus belongs to the awesome @Tacgnologist on tumblr  
> Thanks for letting me borrow your boy!


End file.
